


Mama's Don't let your babies Grow Up to be Cowboys

by timepatty



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Fluff, Fluuuuuuufffffffff, Gen, preslash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-17
Updated: 2013-01-17
Packaged: 2017-11-25 19:22:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/642188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/timepatty/pseuds/timepatty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Derek was shit at choosing pack members. Maybe it would turn out better now that someone had chosen him."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mama's Don't let your babies Grow Up to be Cowboys

**Author's Note:**

> Title and Inspiration, naturally, from the song "Mama's Don't let your babies Grow Up to be Cowboys". 
> 
> There's not really any plot to this, I just wanted to see if I could write something Derek-centric, rather than Stiles centric. Well...

Derek sat in his Camaro as the rain poured down. The car used to be Laura’s, a gift for herself once the old truck she used to drive had died. Derek suspected that it was a power thing, that it was her way of trying to earn respect from the unknown people around her, just like her mother once had. Derek wasn't sure if he liked being an alpha, having this raw sense of power. Everything seemed closer, fresher, more alive. He tampered down the desire to hunt down the rabbit he could hear not even a mile away. He was supposed to be a beta, was happy being a beta. He might have once longed for more authority, a chance for more leadership, but long lessons had taught him the failings of his decision making skills. 

Yet sitting in Laura’s old car, he couldn't help but feel a tiny bit thankful for it. His power had once belonged to her, and to his mum, and his grandfather before her. It was nice to feel a sense of connection, even if he was imagining it, to them. He tried to forget that it had belonged to Peter too, even though it was an impossible task considering that he could feel the instinct of the Alpha power that would drive him mad if he let it. The one which meant that his deranged uncle had bitten that Scott kid, dragging him and his annoying friend into his life, the desire for pack and stability and power. 

Mostly he tried to ignore the annoying teenagers that surrounded him. They were demanding and asked stupid questions that he could not answer. Else they dug up his sister. Or got him arrested. He suspected that this was what expectant mothers felt like, all nurturing, but at the same time terrified. Yes, he wanted a pack, but he didn't really know what to do with one, and he felt like he was a big man for admitting it. 

Derek sat in the car for a few more hours, until the rain went down and the moon started to rise. He wandered around the forest for a bit before ended up by a graveyard. There was a boy working the night shift, and he quickly attracted Derek’s attention. The boy smelt like sweat and apples, oddly enough, but also of pain and not a small bit of loneliness. The instinct for pack rose up in Derek, and for once, his human side almost agreed. He could help this boy, make him stronger and better. He could help him defeat what was making the smell of pain and blood emit from the lanky body. 

He could make Derek less lonely too  
.   
Next there was a girl, Erica. He had been hiding around the school, trying to figure out what to say to Scott, who still ignored him whenever Derek had tried talking to him previously. An ambulance had pulled out and a small blonde had been loaded in. He smelt the same pain and loneliness as he had on the other kid. He made a decision.

Derek felt like Boyd would be the one who glued them all together. He was wrong. When he and Erica showed up at his house, demanding to be let go, he didn't have the heart to make them stay. He could have, could have forced them down and made them submit, but he didn't. Even after the elder Argent had been taken care of, he didn't look for them, or go after Scott. Even his uncle had left, gone off to who-knows-where to do who-knows-what and Isaac had decided to live with foster parents. He was right back where he started. 

He was back to sitting in his Camaro in the rain when he heard the familiar engine rumble. He raised and eye brow when he saw Stiles clamber out of his Jeep and up onto the porch. Derek tooted his horn, causing the boy to startle. Derek hid a smile at the boy’s flailing limbs. He made an effort when he slid into the passenger’s seat, grumbling about how he was getting water everywhere. Stiles rolled his eyes and gave back a scathing comment. It was refreshing to be around someone who wasn't afraid of him; the girl at the deli had given him his food for free when he had come in after a trying day last week. His heartbeat stayed steady as Derek stared at him, waiting for him to say what he had come to say. He resolutely did not think about the time when Stiles was pressed up against him, and how good it had felt after months and months of nothing but malicious physical contact. Lightning flashed outside, illuminating the prematurely dark woods for a second before the thunder took over. Siles’ heart sped up in surprise and he started speaking. 

“So, I kind of don’t have a reason to be here. I was going to go for the whole ‘Scott got attacked by fairies yesterday and we dealt with them, but maybe you should know about it just in case’ type of angle, but really I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”  
Derek raised an eyebrow, perplexed. Stiles jumped back into his monologue.

“Like, you've been here a while, and you still live in this old house, which is gross man, like, how do you shower? Anyway, my dad was talking about seeing you at the store the other day, and how if I had been there I would have had a heart attack over how you were eating, which I don’t doubt, although I am surprised you don’t just live off deer or something. But anyway, it got me thinking about how you’re up here ruining your arteries alone, and how I'm just sitting watching movies alone, because Scott’s off with Alison and Isaac again. So I was thinking that maybe, if you wanted to, don’t feel pressured to accept by the way, that we could maybe combine your bad eating habits and my fantastic taste in movies?”

The flush which had started when he was talking, finally encompassed Stiles’ whole face by the time he had finished talking. The stench of embarrassment clogged the air, making Derek itch to open up a window. But his heartbeat had remained steady and his golden brown eyes had remained fixed on Derek’s face. The desire for pack didn't swell up like he expected to when he managed to pick up the scent of loneliness off Stiles, a scent which was so much a part of the boy’s natural scent that it was very difficult to pick up. He wondered if he smelt the same, all that pain and loneliness ingrained into his very essence. 

Derek was shit at choosing pack members. Maybe it would turn out better now that someone had chosen him.


End file.
